Islam Makhachev doesn’t know what he did to make Nate Diaz mad.
In December, Makhachev and Diaz grabbed headlines after a small altercation backstage the place the 2 threw water bottles at one another from throughout the room. Makhachev was there for the UFC 311 press convention whereas was there supporting his teammate Kron Gracie, who was collaborating within the UFC 310 ceremonial weigh-ins, and based on Makhachev, the entire thing kicked off when Diaz shot his group the chook.
“Subsequent day they put me near the cage,” Makhachev advised Demetrious Johnson. “I sat with Dana and Dana got here to me and stated, ‘You’re a troublemaker.’ I stated, ‘Dana, it’s not my fault!’
“We sat, earlier than battle day, I had a press convention, fighters had official weigh-ins. We sat and Diaz began to indicate [gestures his middle finger] for what? Possibly for somebody, it’s good, no downside, however that’s not our fashion.”
For Makhachev, all the factor got here out of nowhere. Diaz by no means fought anybody from his group earlier than, although he did have a rivalry with Makhachev’s buddy and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov that by no means materialized into an precise battle. Pondering on it, that’s the one factor Makhachev might give you for why Diaz fired the two-finger salute to his group.
“One of many guys wore a masks,” Makhachev stated. “He was sick a little bit bit and wore the masks, and possibly Diaz pondering it’s Khabib and confirmed him, you already know? However that day Khabib was not in Vegas, he was in another nation.”
In the end, nothing too untoward occurred. After the groups exchanged a volley of water bottles, the incident was shortly damaged up by safety, and Makhachev and his group left the constructing. And upon reflection, Makhachev believes all the incident could have simply been for present.
“You understand what’s attention-grabbing, possibly 5, six months in the past, I meet Diaz within the elevator within the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas,” Makhachev stated. “He goes to me and says, ‘Respect, respect, respect.’ However what modified now? Lots of cameras come and all the time individuals change.
“We don’t have one thing. If I’ve one thing with him, I can repair it within the Wynn Resort. However he got here to me and stated ‘Respect’ after which he go. However when digital camera comes, he’s altering. And other people suppose I began this!
“I’m not beginning this. Safety comes and so they wish to ship my group from the world and I’m like, ‘Hey, it’s not the blokes’ fault!’ … ‘Sorry, you guys have to go away. It’s important to keep and do interview and your group has to go away.’ I stated, no, it’s not working like this. In the event that they go away, I go away with them, and so they canceled all interviews [laughs].”
Makhachev defends his light-weight title towards Arman Tsarukyan in the primary occasion of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
